The full collection of explorations.
Rather than thinking about what you can ADD to your to-do list…
Think about what you can SUBTRACT.
The reality is… we do WAY too much stupid stuff every day.
And by eliminating more of the stupid stuff… VOILA—you’ll have more time for the not-stupid stuff.
Which is ultimately what we’re really after when we make to-do lists isn’t it?
Have you ever struggled and thought to yourself: “Why am I even complaining about this when millions have it SO much worse than me…”
Recognize that this is a toxic thought.
It essentially translates into: “My struggles are invalid and it’s wrong for me to feel how I do.”
…Which naturally leads to emotional suppression, message(s) ignoring, and a worsening of overall state. This is no way to solve a struggle.
Struggles are solved when you add confrontation (with the emotion(s)), subtract comparison, and give all of your feelings equal space to communicate the message(s) your body purposefully sent via them.
Telling yourself they’re wrong for being there doesn’t change the fact that they’re there.
Letting them fulfill their purpose—does. It allows them to move through you and out of your system—to wherever it is that fulfilled feelings go.
Send them there. Don’t deny, suppress, and exasperate them deeper inside, here.
Rather than looking at unpleasant emotions (e.g. anxiety, anger, upset) as burdens…
Look at them as powerful sources of fuel.
If you look closely at some of your favorite creations from throughout history… you might be surprised by how many were fueled by unpleasant emotions compared to those that were not.
Which begs the question… what might you be able to do/ create when your unpleasant emotions become fuel rather than weight?!
P.s. Here’s a short story about Frida Kahlo (as an example) and the unexpected gifts pain can provide.
In a world that’s constantly trying to get you to do addition:
Commit to doing more subtraction instead:
Addition, now more than ever, is the modern day toxin—and subtraction is the antidote.
Before you answer the question, make sure it’s the best possible version of the question you can ask.
Certain questions leave no room for good answers.
In fact, many of the questions we ask ourselves beget demeaning/ self-limiting/ hateful answers—and we’re better off not answering them at all.
Want to level up your life? You’ll need better answers for that.
And nothing will lead to better answers faster than asking better questions.
P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.
Surface level cuts might only require time to heal.
Deeper cuts will require more than that.
As it is with inner healing.
Some surface level pains may only need time.
But, the deeper pains will require more active solutions.
Give your deep cuts only time to heal and they will likely become infected (and worsen).
By matching the proper prognosis to the severity of the (inner) pain, you’ll maximize your ability (and minimize the time it takes) to heal.
This starts by being completely honest with yourself or, better yet, getting an objective perspective about the severity of your inner pains; understanding the prognosis for each; and finding a way to take the proper actions in spite of the resistance you’re bound to face.
As hard as inner healing might be… it always beats infected inner wounds that you’re forced to face because of their un-ignorable severity. This is never a better route.
1% gains is the philosophy that guides my life.
Each day, I try to:
But, I don’t always reach this goal.
Sometimes, what 1% gains ACTUALLY looks like is:
While 1% might feel infinitely achievable… the reality is, we’re imperfect creatures immersed in an imperfect world and we have to account for the ebb and flow of life.
There will be days when you’re feeling it and crush your daily tasks (maybe even with 2-5% gains)… and there will be days when you’re not feeling it and you dip into the negatives.
Don’t let this discourage you—stay the path.
Keep investing in yourself like you would your retirement investment account. Continue to reinvest with the goal of the overall average being a 1% increase rather than the actual increase being 1% every single day.
The real power of the gains come from the long-term compounding of regular reinvestments. Just ask your financial advisor. Trying to get a forever positive return on any stock/fund in the market simply isn’t practical. And neither is a forever positive return on any task you undertake in life.
You don’t get 1% returns each and every single day.
You get 1% returns on average over the course of years and years of regular investing.
THAT is how you get the real 10/15/30% gains and that is how you get the most out of your personal development habits in life.
Stay. The. Path.